13Chapter 1: The Light in the Night Sky
I've had dreams that were real, yet not.
I've had memories that don't belong to me, yet still tie to my life.
I've seen so much, felt so much, been through so much.
It began with a dream of me standing on stained glass. It was an image of people I didn't recognise next to me.
My name is Nox. I'm 15 with Caucasian skin and emerald green eyes and swept back black hair with a sweeping sharp strand across my forehead that has stubbornly persisted with me throughout my life. I wore a long sleeved and short waisted emerald green jacket with gold edges, the front being open and having black laces crisscrossing over my chest, showing the purple short sleeve with a gold zipper I wore underneath. Coupled with this I wore black shorts that fell below my knees that had pockets on the sides, and white rounded shoes with purple straps and gold buckles.
I looked around. It was nothing but blackness all around so I was forced to study the glass beneath my feet. Try as I might, I couldn't recognise any of the others depicted, which I founds strange.
"The darkness has begun to devour light." I froze as an unknown voice echoed around me.
"Who's there?" I called out into the endless abyss.
"A shine has died. But its hope gives way to a shimmer." The voice continued. "You must take that hope."
"Hope?" I echoed.
Suddenly, something fell onto the glass with a delicate clink. "Take hope within your heart." The voice persisted.
Carefully, I walked over and picked it up. It was what seemed to be glass in the shape of a diamond, and in the middle of it was what looked like a red symbol of a heart.
"Move forward." The voice said. "With your hope. Your light. Your fate." A door appeared in a flash of light.
Without anything to do, I pocketed the thing and walked towards the door, pushing it open, I had to squint as a light blinded me, but then I gasped as it was quickly swallowed in darkness, and countless yellow eyes shot towards me.
I sat up in my bed with a gasp, and looked around in fright.
It was my room. My house as it were. It was simple and wooden, the only thing that really differentiated it was the constant toys and models that had been disassembled or created. The most obvious being a small silver and light blue contraption sitting at my work desk with popsicles and cones stacked up in a holder attached to it.
I shook my head, trying to discern if my dream actually happened or not, before swinging around and standing up, but I stopped as I felt something in my pocket. Looking down I realised I was wearing my normal clothes and not my pajamas. I was too tired to change them from last night.
Reaching in, I was horribly surprised to pull out the same diamond from what I had assumed was my dream.
"How did...?" I stared at it in shock, it was supposed to have been just part of a dream! "This is weird...I should talk to Leon and Yuffie about this. Or...maybe Aerith."
Pocketing the gem once more, I unlocked my door and peered out. I was checking for Heartless.
Traverse Town
This was Traverse Town. Or rather, the alleyway of Traverse Town. It was a world for those who had lost their own, and unfortunately, by now I was living here for ten years. Living in a town for a world was pretty shallow by this point, but I didn't really have much choice. It expanded, yes, but that was only because it was a world accepting more residents, which wasn't good at all.
I carefully began walking past the doors, with my destination in my sight. I was almost there when a shadow materialised on the floor, and I stopped.
"Of course one of you would show up." I muttered as I slipped into a battle stance, holding my right fist out and my left arm up in a block, as a creature with yellow eyes and black antenna pulled itself out of the ground. This was a Heartless, a creature of darkness that fed on hearts. Present in all worlds apparently, but they had also become more restless here in Traverse for some reason, which was never good.
Quickly, I punched the Shadow in the face, making it actually stagger back, before I kicked it as hard as I could, making it disintegrate into nothingness with a few yellow shards in its place. I then picked up the shards, which was Munny, and pocketed it. For whatever reason Heartless dropped it when they died, so Heartless Extermination was actually a good job around here.
Of course punching a Heartless with bare hands was never a smart move, but after Leon and Yuffie began training me a while back, I was proud to say I was more then capable of defending myself thanks to their kindness. Yuffie was a good combat coach, and she had helped with my strength and agility so that I could defend myself. Even though they practically cemented themselves as defenders of the town for as long as I can remember.
I reached the door and knocked, and I was answered almost instantly by a girl with short black hair and odd attire to say the least.
"Hey, Nox." Yuffie greeted me. "What brings you around?"
"Hello, Yuffie. I was wondering if I could ask you about something." She locked the door behind me as I entered. "Is Leon not in?"
"He's out Heartless hunting." She told me. "You need him?"
"I'm not sure." I took out the gem and presented it to her. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything about this."
"Oooh, shiny." She laughed, peering at it, then squinting. "Actually...I haven't seen anything like this before. Where'd you get it?"
"In a dream." She gave me an annoyed look. "Seriously. I had a dream about it, woke up, and it was in my pocket. You guys know a lot about weird stuff, so I thought you might have an idea on what it is?"
"Since when were we experts?" Yuffie shook her head. "Sorry, but it doesn't look familiar to me. Don't know if Leon or Aerith would, either."
"Right..." I nodded.
"Anyway, Nox. You'd better stay careful. Heartless attacks are becoming more and more frequent." Yuffie told me.
"Think I don't know? Just yesterday I was going to get more parts for a new invention-"
"Toy." Yuffie interupted with a smirk.
"INVENTION." I emphasised strongly in annoyance. "And a bunch of Soldiers jumped me."
"Don't name them." She frowned.
"Naming the Heartless makes them more easy to define, and easier to determine their threat level." I rebuffed.
"Sure. We know you like doing it." Yuffie sighed. "I still remember that time that fat one first showed up and you ran out to get a closer look."
"The Large Body." I recalled, making her give me an unamused look. "Well what would you call it?"
"A Heartless." She stated strongly.
I shook my head, then my eyes happened to glance at something hanging on the wall. It looked like armour, but it was only big enough to cover one shoulder, being bright red and violet in colour with a dark pink diamond on the shoulder.
"...Has Leon made any progress with it?" I asked, making Yuffie follow my line of sight.
"No. Still nothing." She said.
"Then really he should just give it back to me." I argued.
"Leon knows his stuff, and so does Merlin." She said. "Something is definitely special about that thing."
When I had arrived in Traverse Town, I was apparently clutching onto the armour tightly. It had been with me as long as I could remember until Leon wanted to study it, even bringing in Merlin, the resident magician and another good friend, to study it. They always said that 'something was very special about it' with nothing concrete.
I stared at the armour for a moment, when I felt an odd warmth from my pocket. Reaching in, I took out the gem, to see it was glowing. "Uhh...Yuffie?"
"What is i-woah." She stepped over and stared at it. "That's weird..."
"Hmmm..." I held the orb up to try and get a better look at it, but I gasped as it suddenly pulled itself out of my grip and flew into the armour resting on the wall with such force it fell off of its hooks and clattered onto the desk.
"Okay. Not normal." Yuffie stated.
"Yeah, no..." Carefully, I picked up the armour and examined it. "But really curious."
"Sooooo, what? Was the light your user registration?" Yuffie wondered aloud.
"Don't ask me." I replied. "There is a way to find out, though." I slipped the armour onto my right shoulder, and found that it actually fit perfectly.
"It fits you well." Yuffie observed. "TOO well. Wasn't it a little bit bigger?"
"Don't know, but I'll tell you, detective, it fits me and it doesn't feel heavy." I gave my arm a few experimental spins, and found that there was no resistance or weight whatsoever.
"Ninja." She corrected me, then frowning slightly. "Do you feel...different, at all?"
"...Not really." I replied. "Still...it must do...something." I tapped on it, trying to see if I could trigger anything.
"We'd better go find Leon. If nothing else, he knows stuff that's shiny, swingy or stabby." Yuffie said, picking up her large shuriken. "Stay behind me, okay?"
"I know." I assured her, still tapping at the armour.
We walked out and into the 1st District. It was a simple square with a large building in the middle that had a neon 'Accessory Shop' sign above it. The town was forever at night with stars twinkling above us in the sea of darkness as hazy streetlamps lit up the world we now lived on. We hadn't gotten far when shadows rose up out of the ground.
"Heartless here, in the 1st District!?" Yuffie gasped.
"That's definitely not normal." I thought aloud.
"Stay back, Nox." She warned.
"Don't worry, I can defend myself." I replied as I went into a battle stance.
But just as I thrust my right arm out, it was enveloped in a bright light, causing me to gasp before it faded away. My entire right arm was now covered in the armour, and were my fingers would be were five white straps.
"What the-!?" I stared at my now covered arm in fascination. From within the confines of the armour, I wiggled my fingers to find that the five straps copied the motion and did a waving motion.
"What happened!?" Yuffie gasped.
"I don't know!" I cried.
Suddenly, one of the shadows jumped forward, claws ready. Instinct took over and I threw my now covered fist forward to punch it, but as I did the five straps rapidly tripled in length, shooting forward and hitting three more of them, causing several of the Shadows to burst into nothingness as pink hearts floated out of them and into the sky.
"Oh my god!" I cried out in surprise as I clenched my fist, causing the whips to retract back to my weapon like tape measures.
Yuffie quickly disposed of the remaining shadows before running over to me. "That really just happened!? The armour turned into that?"
"Yeah!" I looked at every angle of my own arm in fascination as I wiggled the whips as if they were my own fingers. Then, in a flash of light, it reverted back to just being on my shoulder. "This is incredible!" I craned my neck to stare at the device attached to me.
"And not normal." Yuffie looked up. "When you defeated those Heartless, the hearts were released...but that would only happen if-"
"Is there some sort of trigger?" I wasn't listening to the rest of her mumblings as I thrust my arm forward, causing the gauntlet to reappear in a flash of light. "It reacts to that?" I waited a moment, then saw it revert back to normal. "And it changes back after prolonged inactivity. This is...wow! I can't believe I didn't know about this!"
"That's because it couldn't do that before."
Me and Yuffie looked at the new voice to see a blonde haired man chewing on a toothpick walking down.
"Oh, Cid!" Yuffie greeted him. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. It'll take more then a few Heartless to bust down my doors." He replied confidently. "Just glad to see you both A-Okay. Especially you, Nox. Wouldn't want to lose a good customer."
"Thanks, Cid." I said, not hiding the displeasure in my voice. "Anyway, you were saying about this?" I flicked my arm and made the gauntlet reappear.
"THAT. It definitely didn't do that before." Cid mumbled. "And it didn't show any indication or capability of dong it before."
"Fancy words for you, Cid." I complimented, making him fix me with a traditional scowl.
"Cid, have you seen Leon around?" Yuffie stepped in.
"Leon? Yeah, I saw him, didn't you?" He asked. "Looked like he was headin' back to your flat. Takin' some kid with him."
"What!?" Both me and Yuffie gasped.
"Taking a kid? Why didn't you stop him?" I cried.
"Wouldn't call 'im a kid, Nox. Same age as you." He smirked. "And I don't get involved in his business since he doesn't mess with mine."
"Leon being Leon he must have a reason for it...hopefully." Yuffie sighed. "I'm gonna head back to the flat then."
"Nox, mind letting me take a look at this armour of yours for a sec?" Cid requested.
"Sure. I'm curious too." I admitted with a smile.
"Just be careful coming back, okay?" Yuffie said.
"Are you kidding? I have this thing now!" I summoned the gauntlet for emphasis.
"So you should know about great power and great responsibilities." She nodded. "I'm out, then." She suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, sending both me and Cid into a coughing fit.
"I hate it when she does that." Cid grumbled, with me silently agreeing.
KHVM
I sat in a chair in Cid's shop as I held my arm out with the gauntlet protecting it, Cid examining it. Turned out that f I just willed it to stay, stay it did, which only served to make this armour even more interesting. I was constantly glancing up at the ceiling, thinking about the cute little Moogles at work. I seriously loved those guys.
"I give. No idea how this thing works." Cid's cry got my attention. "This is magic crap. That's Merlin's job, not mine."
"Think I should take it to him, then?" I wondered as I stood up and observed it on my arm.
"Ha! You kiddin'? You'll be there listening to him for hours before he glances at it!" Cid laughed, making me frown in place of a non-present Merlin. "That's a weapon, ya hear me? And it seems to like you! Best way to learn it, is to use it."
"My own weapon..." I practically whispered, staring at it in fascination. I thought back to the dream, of taking hope...was this the hope? And then moving forward...
I gave it a few experimental swings. It still didn't feel heavy, but there was definitely a force behind it, and the whips acted as my fingers perfectly, plus the stretching and retracting part.
"I'll call it...the Guardiarm!" I declared.
"...Got a thing for names, haven't ya?" Cid shrugged. "Doesn't matter what it is, it can hit Heartless and hit 'em hard. Better use it right."
"I've got it." I nodded. "Thanks, Cid."
"One more thing." He stopped me. "Anything you bought off me that ya haven't turned into a stupid gizmo?"
"Invention." I corrected him. "And no."
"Good." He smirked. "Never stop, Nox."
I walked out into the district and glanced at the Guardiarm. "This is definitely mine. It feels like it should be. But what does it mean?"
As I was staring at it, I happened to see two figures I didn't recognise walking into the back streets. I couldn't get a clear look, but the colour of their clothes told me I didn't know them.
'Who were they? New arrivals?' I thought. 'Must've lost their worlds...I'll see if I can find them later. For now, I'd better go find Leon...but first I need to test this thing out!'
I walked out to the second district, which was the plaza filled with shops and resident homes, as well as the factory. Looking around it, unfortunately, wasn't long before more Shadows began appearing.
"Okay, let's try this." Starting with something basic, I threw a hooked punch at the closest shadow, the punch making a solid hit with the basic Heartless and causing it to burst into nothingness as a heart flew out of it and into the sky.
The other shadows sunk into the ground and crawled around like their namesake. Not feeling confident enough to let them come close, I backed up as they re-emerged in front of me before I shot the five whips forward, hitting three of them and missing four others. I quickly spun my own hand around the top of my head, causing the five elongated straps to whip around, taking out the remaining ones before I clenched my fist inside the weapon, making the whips retreat back.
'I think I'm getting the hang of this...' I thought as I stared at the weapon. 'Still, using the whips feels kind of unnatural...I should try it a bit more."
I cautiously walked down into the center, when suddenly what looked like Shadow Heartless clad in suits and wearing metal snapping helmets appeared. I had dubbed these ones Soldiers.
The Soldiers were much more confident, and jumped forward, catching me off guard. In a panic I shot the whips forward, knocking them back, before I threw them downward and whipped the Soldiers on the ground. As the rest of them approached I retracted the whips before shooting them out again, knocking them down like clattering bowling pins as they vanished.
"Yes!" I couldn't help but cheer at my own little victory. Of course, the execution of the attacks were so wonky and amateurish even I could see it, but the end result was very satisfying for me.
"Nox!" I stopped as I heard a familiar voice, and I looked to see a man wearing a jacket carrying a large sword over his shoulder running at me.
"Leon! There you are!" I gasped.
"That's my line!" He said, stopping in front of me. "Yuffie told me you were out with Cid, but he said you went out! What on earth do you think you-!" He stopped as he noticed the gauntlet on my arm. "Hey...is that it?"
"You mean the armour, right? This is what it is now." I held it out for emphasis.
"To think it could do something like this..." Leon mumbled as it faded away. "And from what Yuffie said...hey, take it off for a second."
"Take it off? Okay." I slipped the armour off quite easily, and put it in Leon's outstretched hand. He examined it for a moment, before it suddenly leapt out of his hand and clamped back on my shoulder.
"Woah!" I gasped in shock at the unexpected movement. "I...guess it likes me. Is it some sort of user code?"
"It's just like the key..." I heard Leon mumble. "Listen, Nox-"
Before he could continue, a bunch of Soldiers and Shadows suddenly surrounded us, making us both get battle ready.
"There are definitely a lot more then usual!" I stated.
"It's not normal at all." Leon agreed, slashing through two Shadows effortlessly. "This can only mean my suspicions were correct."
"Suspicions?" I echoed, prompting him.
"With the Heartless increase so dramatic, it can only mean that a boss Heartless is around here somewhere." Leon told me.
"A boss? You mean like, an incredibly powerful leader?" I guessed.
"Exactly." He nodded. "It means the whole town is in danger. Hopefully that kid can take care of it...Nox, you need to get home, quickly!"
It was then that I remembered. "Wait! Leon! I saw two new people go off to the back streets a little while ago! Do you think they could be in danger too!?"
"The back streets? Heartless around there are pretty rare." He admitted. "But with things like this...!"
"This is bad...I have to go help them!" I cried, pushing my way through the Shadows.
"Wait! Nox!" Leon called after me.
"Leon! Please take care of the enemies around here!" I yelled back at him. "I'll go to the back streets and Fountain Plaza!"
"Nox!" He yelled again before I pushed my way through the doors into the 1st District.
I hurried into the back streets, which was a long path alongside the waterways flowing through the town. I couldn't bare the thought of something bad happening to those two because I didn't stop them.
I ran up the waterways where more Shadow Heartless were waiting. I stretched the whips out and used them to slam all of them together into the wall, making them vanish as I rushed past them, out of the water and into the path towards the Fountain Plaza.
Traverse Town really likes its fountains, this plaza presenting a giant golden one in front of what was supposed to be a Town Hall, but was really just used as a workshop for Cid. I hurried out into the plaza and saw the two from earlier looking around.
"Hey! You two!" I called out to them as I ran over, and they turned towards me, allowing me to finally get a good look at them.
The first was a girl about my height. She was pale, but her hair was a bright neon pink, that hung over her shoulders. She had wide light pink eyes with a small nose and mouth that was a warm smile. She wore a no sleeve yellow hooded shirt with a dark pink music note on the back, with two white pockets on the front. She wore a sky neon blue straightened skirt along with white shoes with orange laces tied up into crosses, and knee high orange socks. Noticeably, at her waist was a large pouch that was the same colour as her skirt and circular in colour. It had two light green buttons tied to it with black string that almost served as eyes, as underneath it was a zipper that curved up into a smile.
The second was...I actually don't know, a rabbit, I think? I mean, he was covered in black fur, had black fluff for a tail and two long black bunny ears. And short, he only came up to about my stomach, though his ears reached the over my head. He wore a pair of blue shorts with two silver buttons on the front, and he seemed to wear a short sleeved light purple shirt that was zipped up with a silver zipper, that had pockets all over it, and even a dark purple backpack attached to the back of it. He didn't seem to wear any shoes, but he wore a pair of thick white armbands with black rings around them. Out of his backpack poked out what looked like a giant wrench from the curving 'C' end, which was dark blue in colour and seemed to have a compressed spring acting as its neck, with gear-like teeth on its handle and a red unlit light on the top of it.
"Oh, hello there!" The girl greeted me quite cheerfully. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine...wait, I mean, we're not!" I gasped. "Listen, I don't know if you know the situation, and I don't mean to freak you out, but its really not safe at the moment. Heartless are everywhere right now. You need to get somewhere safe."
"Hey, buddy, no need to worry about us." The rabbit spoke in an authoritative voice. "We can handle ourselves perfectly fine. More importantly, YOU should get somewhere safe."
I simply stared at him for a moment. "Uh, okay...I came all this way, so don't you think I can handle myself?"
"Ohhhhh, cocky, are we?" The rabbit sneered. "Just 'cause you can beat a FEW Heartless doesn't mean you can survive against them. Me and Clara have been against them longer then you have."
"Hi, I'm Clara." The girl waved cheerfully. "And this happy guy is Oswald!"
"Oi! Don't introduce me!" The rabbit complained. "This isn't the time for greetings!"
Before I could try to discern anything, a large group of Soldiers appeared behind me!
"Heartless!" I gasped as I summoned the Guardiarm. "You two stay back, I'll protect you!"
"Stay back? And miss out on destroying Heartless? No way!" The girl, Clara cried as she jumped forward, holding her pouch out as she unzipped the mouth.
"Please! Saying you'll protect us. We'll outlast you if you want to play hero!" Oswald said as he pulled the giant wrench out of his bad and wielded it using his ears.
As the first Solder recklessly jumped forward, Oswald swung his wrench. The weapon was both far-reaching and heavy, and it smashed into the Soldier with such force it was destroyed instantly.
Clara straight up ran forward and held her pouch out, as suddenly the bags 'mouth' opened impossibly wide and chomped down on the nearest Soldier, destroying it. It then proceeded to grow a pair of bat wings and begin flying!
'Woah, these two are good!' I thought, before shaking my head. 'I've gotta help!' I ran forward and punched the Soldier in front of me, knocking it back into the other ones like a bowling ball.
The three of us together quickly dispatched the Soldiers, but as they all were defeated, a big, fat Heartless, a Large Body, suddenly appeared. Oswald swung at it, but despite the power it packed, the attack merely bounced off of its belly, before the big Heartless pounded its own stomach and then charged. We all dodged out of the way as it passed us, and I clumsily staggered before running up behind it and punching it in the back, making it fall on its face. As it picked itself up, Clara ran forward and bit its back using her pouch like a sock puppet, making the Heartless clumsily turn around and charge again, which was quite easy to do. Oswald swung his wrench like an axe straight down into its back, before I shot the five whips as my fingers forward. I was actually shocked as the five whips pierced straight through its back, making the Heartless freeze up in pain before it burst into shadows and Munny, before its heart floated up into the black sky.
"Wow..." I breathed in shock, turning to the two of them. "You two are...really good."
"Awwww, thanks!" Clara beamed. "You're really good yourself! Oh, hold on." She opened her pouch again, and it seemed to gain a vacuum like effect as it sucked up all the Munny left behind.
"That is cool!" I marvelled. "Is it magic?"
"Yep! A special keepsake from home." She patted it lightly.
"So...did your homeworld get destroyed?" I asked cautiously.
"Heyeyey, you're asking a lot of questions buddy, when I've got some!" Oswald then stared at the Guardiarm in fascination. "Like what the heck is this? I've never seen a weapon like this before, and it can release hearts from Heartless! Where'd you get it?"
"Just today." I shrugged. "Nobody seems to know what it is...but I've been using it well."
"Interesting..." Oswald mumbled, before beckoning Clara closer with his ear. he whispered to her, and I leaned in too. "This one seems special. We should get the Gummi Ship read-"
"A Gummi Ship!?" I gasped, making them both jump back.
"Hey! Don't listen in on other peoples conversations!" Oswald was literally hopping mad.
"Yes! We do have a Gummi Ship!" Clara spoke with a smile. "We're world travellers."
"Clara! Don't say that so casually! Did you already forget the rules of world travelling?" Oswald told her.
"A proper Gummi Ship...just like Cid said." I remember him recalling how he had brought most of my friends here in his own Gummi Ship before it fell into disrepair. A vehicle capable of travelling between worlds. "So...you've really been to other worlds?"
"Well, the thing is..." She scratched her cheek with a nervous smile, but then suddenly gasped. "Look out!"
She forcefully pushed me out of the way and dragged Intego with her as something crashed down where we previously stood, in front of the fountain.
What had attempted to crush us was a giant Heartless. It was mainly dark red in colour, but had golden edges. It had a needle shaped body with a star shaped hole in its chest, inside of which was a glowing white orb. Two black wires on the bottom ends, connecting it to two green and blue neon stars that served as the middle of the spiked black wheels that served as its legs. Its arms were the same black spindly limbs, connected to hands pulsing with purple and yellow neon rings around the wrists and fingers, in the middles of which were the same neon stars as on its wheels. Its head was diamond shaped with pulsing red white and black neon lights flashing around it, as the Heartless Emblem was where a face would be.
I later named this Heartless the Nightstar.
"Aw crud, we got a big one!" Oswald said.
The Nightstar's wheels spun as it charged at us much faster then the Large Body, and we only just got out of the way as it ran past before turning around to face us again. The Heartless then held its hands out and fired a dark purple star from each of its palms, one towards me and one towards Oswald and Clara. Oswald quickly swung his wrench at the star and batted it away whilst I could only jump out of the way of the one aimed at me, unfortunately, I landed right next to it, and its arm raised up, ready to crush me!
Before it could, Clara jumped up and bit its other arm with her pouch, distracting it long enough for me to gain some distance as it tossed her away, with her landing safely, thankfully. Oswald jumped impressively high and smashed it with his weapon, making the Nightstar flinch, but it retaliated by charging again, swinging its arms wildly, and the both of them just barely got out of the way.
I shot my whips forward and grabbed its arm in an attempt to stop it, but it quite easily pulled me, throwing me up onto one of the balconies, forcing me to painfully tuck and roll. I got back up as quickly as I could to see it firing more stars at Clara and Oswald, with the former using her pouch to suck up the stars as Oswald seemed to be shaking the wrench, causing the light on it to turn red. As it charged at them again, I waited for it to come close before I jumped off and grabbed onto its body. I then pulled myself up and punched it right in its face, making the Heartless stagger as I hit it again. Before I could strike a third time, the head suddenly detached from the body and launched itself as a spinning shuriken that was fast enough to hit both Clara and Oswald, as its body shook violently, tossing me off as I fell to the ground before its head reattached itself to the body.
Clara's pouch flew above them as she held her hand up, creating a green aura that washed over the two of them before they got back up seemingly unharmed, unlike me. Clara ran forward and recklessly used her pouch to bite the Heartless' main body as Oswald jumped towards its head. The sphere inside the Heartless' body seemed to glow, and Clara rightfully took that as a sign of danger as she released her grip and ran as the Heartless unleashed a blast of neon light that enveloped the radius around it, before Oswald swung his wrench into its body which caused a bolt of lightning to shoot through the Nightstar, as the light on the wrench returned to being dull, having used up its power on the one strike. The Heartless responded by detaching and spinning its head again.
"Not this time." I mumbled as self-motivation before I ran at it. I tried to punch the head, but it swerved out of the way and then smashed into me. Pain shot through my ribs, but I still managed to grab the head with my extended whips, holding it in place as I slammed it into the ground.
"Take...THIS!" Using all the strength I could muster, I smashed my gauntlet down onto the Heartless' head like a hammer, crushing it and causing a gigantic crack to spread across the star.
The neon lights on the Heartless suddenly faded into black, and its body went limp as a heart burst out of its body and flew away before it disintegrated. And as I stared down at the head, the Guardiarm flashed for a moment, and a faint light shimmered in the head before it too faded away, leaving behind the source of the shine.
"This is..." My weapon vanished and I picked up the orb. "Just like the one I got from my dream..." Only instead of a heart, it had a neon yellow star inside it with shadows wrapping around it.
"That was AMAZING!" Clara cheered as I pocketed the small orb. "We destroyed that thing! Together! We were so cool!"
"I'll admit...you were pretty capable there." Oswald admitted. "Really capable..."
"Thank you." I said. "You really helped me. And, everyone else who lives here too."
"No need to thank us. After all, you helped." She nodded, before gasping. "Hey, you're hurt!"
I looked down at myself. I did indeed have a lot of scraps and bruises, and a dull pain ebbing at me.
"Hold on. I have just the thing!" She smiled gleefully as she reached into her bag and pulled out a blue vial with a green star floating in it. "Potion'll fix you up good!" She tossed it into the air and it shattered before the same green sparkles rained down on me, and I suddenly felt a lot better.
"So that's how a Potion works? Thanks." I thanked her.
"Anytime." Her smile seemed to be ever present, but retained its kindness. "You were quite strong. That weapon of yours definitely is special."
"I believe so, yeah." I told her.
"It certainly is..." Oswald had his arms folded, tapping his fingers. "Say, uh, we never got your name."
"Oh! Sorry, it's Nox." I said.
"That's a nice name." Clara nodded.
"Nox, then. I, well we, might have a proposition for you." Oswald said.
"A proposition?" I echoed.
"Yeah." He nodded. "As you can probably guess, we came here in a Gummi Ship. I'm the captain, and Clara is someone I picked up when her world got destroyed, short story is we stuck together for a bit and she also proved to be capable at handling herself. So, together, we've been searching all the other worlds."
"Searching for what?" I asked.
"Something important." Clara said. "Have you heard of the Door to the Light?"
"Can't say I have." I shook my head.
"The Door to the Light is the key to returning all worlds lost to the darkness." Oswald said. "When it is opened, light floods in, and casts the shadows away that have enveloped the lost worlds, freeing and restoring them."
"Wait, the worlds lost to darkness...can come back?" I echoed in shock.
"Yes." Clara nodded. "That's why we've been looking! But it doesn't seem to be here either. Still! Killing a bunch of Heartless is always fun!"...She said that a bit too enthusiastically.
"The Door to the Light..." I pondered it, but nothing came to mind. "Hey, maybe my friends know something about it. I can take you to them if you'd like."
"Really?" Clara smiled. "Thank you so much."
"Well...I suppose it would be rude to refuse." Oswald gave in. "Besides...I suppose I need to talk with your friends too."
We walked back to the First District, where I conveniently saw everybody gathered together.
"Hey! Guys!" I waved over to them.
"Nox! There you are!" Yuffie cried. "Where did you run off to!? I was looking all over for you!"
"Sorry for worrying you, Yuffie. But I'm fine. They helped." I gestured to the pair behind me.
"Lovely to meet you! I'm Clara!" She cheered.
"Nice to meetcha. Name's Oswald." He waved.
"Who are they? New residents?" Yuffie asked.
"Not exactly." I shrugged.
"Nox." Leon spoke, making me look at him.
"Uh, is this about running off?" I asked.
"Something like that." Leon said. "Come here. I want to introduce you to someone."
"Huh? Who?" I walked over to him, and I was standing face to face with three people.
The first was a boy about my age. He had spiky brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a silver crown pendant with a white open jacket and matching gloves over a red shirt and shorts combo, and the biggest yellow shoes I'd ever seen. Standing behind him was a duck with no pants and a blue jacket with a matching hat with an unnecessary zip, and the third was...I honestly don't know. A dog, maybe? But he wore a green jumper and yellow trousers with a black jacket.
"Is this the guy you were telling me about, Leon?" The guy asked.
"Yeah. Sora, meet Nox. Nox, Sora." He introduced us.
"Uh, Pleased to meet you." I offered my hand.
"Nice to meet you too." He smiled as he shook it.
And just for a moment, my armour piece flashed, and a beam of white light appeared in Sora's hand, turning into a giant key.
"What the-?" We both gasped.
"That's a giveaway." Oswald chimed in.
"Huh, so it is something like that." Leon said.
"Leon, what is this?" I asked him.
It was at this moment that a women with braided brown hair in a pink dress stepped forward. This was Aerith.
"It seems that that armour and the Keyblade are connected in some way." She said.
"Though it's clear that thing on your shoulder isn't a Keyblade." Leon stated. "But the fact that it releases hearts is definitely an indication of something."
"The Keyblade, huh?" I remembered Leon talking about it at times. "I guess I'm glad I got to meet you then, keyblade wielder."
"Thanks." Sora grinned, holding the key out. "You're pretty special as well it seems, so I'm glad I can meet you!"
"Nox, do you remember that dream you had last night?" Aerith asked.
"Yeah...there was a voice. It spoke about darkness devouring light...and I had to take hope." I recalled.
"It must be a sign of some sort." She nodded. "Nox...you should go with them."
"R-Really?" I gasped.
"Well, you should listen to your dreams...and it can't be a coincidence." Yuffie theorised.
"Absolutely not!" The duck suddenly yelled in a series of quacks.
"Huh!? Why not!?" Sora said.
"Gawrsh, Donald, you shouldn't really mess with destiny like that." The dog said.
"We were only told to bring the key." Donald said. "We can't just bring along anybody, Goofy."
"Oh c'mon! he seems nice." Sora persisted.
'Am I being compared to extra baggage right now?' I thought.
"It's alright!" Suddenly, Clara hugged me from behind, catching me off guard as her chest pressed into my back. "Nox is coming along with us!"
"What!?" Everybody yelled, including me.
"Yeah! We're travellers too!" She beamed. "We're looking for the Door to the Light, so, that's gotta link to your destiny, right?"
"Clara, you completely stole my thunder!" Oswald ranted, before huffing. "That was my proposition. If your Guardiarm has properties similar to a Keyblade, it could be essential in finding the Door to the Light. I want you to come aboard my ship, and help us look across the worlds!"
"So that settles it right? Right?" Clara beamed.
"I..." Leon looked at me, and I could only smile nervously. "...Guess that works out?"
"See? It works out." Donald defended himself.
"You'll really take me along?" I asked them.
"Just said, didn't we?" Clara laughed.
"The Door to the Light will save all worlds?" I asked.
"Yep." Oswald nodded. "It'll save yours too, if you ended up here."
Going out from the tiny town I'd known practically my whole life...to explore other, fascinating worlds, meet new people, discover and learn so much more...and even return the world I came from, which I couldn't remember, to finally learn so much more...
"...Thank you!" I smiled.
KHVM
I looked around my room. This was a...weird feeling. I was leaving this behind now. Everything had happened so quickly, now that it had slowed down, I was honestly having trouble processing it!
But still...this definitely wasn't natural. I summoned the Guardiarm and stared at it. It all began with this, on this day...something was up. Traverse Town was the only place I had ever known, and now I was leaving it behind...still, was that a good thing? It was for a noble cause after all...and it was for the sake of everyone in Traverse Town...
I pulled the orb I had gotten from the Heartless out of my pocket and stared at it. Then, a soft light shined from the palm of the Guardiarm, and the orb seemed to float above it. I was half expecting it to be absorbed like the one I got from my dream...but it just stayed there, suspended, until the weapon vanished and it dropped into my hands.
'Too many questions and no answers.' I sighed. That bothered me.
Taking one last look around, I picked up my notebook and several pens, then carried my dessert machine, I was taking it with me no matter what! It was my prized possession!
I walked out of my house and into the 1st District, where I saw Clara and Oswald talking with Leon and the gang.
"Sorry we couldn't be more help." I heard Leon say as I walked over.
"No need to worry!" Clara beamed. "We'll definitely find the Door to the Light, and we'll bring all the worlds back!"
"If that's your plan, then I'm rooting for ya." Cid nodded.
"Hey." I said as I walked over.
"Hellooooo, Nox!" Clara waved. "Oh! What's that?"
"I'm taking it with me." I held it out. "It's my dessert machine"
"Dessert machine?" Oswald eyed it. "...Did you make this?"
"Yeah." I admitted.
"...Heh." He seemed to smile. "I'll take it to the ship." He picked it up with his ears and carried it off.
"I'll go with him. You guys say you're goodbyes." Clara smiled as she headed off.
"Jeez, Nox. This is going over my head." Cid admitted. "Heading off on a Gummi Ship, gettin' your own destiny and that...still, guess I gotta root for a good customer, huh?"
"Thanks, Cid." I smiled, knowing it was his own way of wishing me well.
"We'll let everyone know you're going to help them." Yuffie assured me. "Just stay safe, alright?"
"Promise." I nodded.
"Hey..." Leon said. "You'd better come back and visit before you find that Door, okay? Don't want to lose you. But still...good luck."
"Thanks Leon." I mustered a smile. This was getting kinda sad...
"Nox..." Aerith spoke. "Do you know why Traverse Town is always night?"
"Uhhh..." I certainly didn't expect that. "No, why?"
She pointed up, and I looked up to see the blanketed night sky filled with stars.
"So that we who have lost our worlds, can still look up and see the lights of those who remain, who still have hope, and light." She said. "So, when you leave...one of those stars will be us. As long as you can see the stars, you'll have us with you."
"Aerith..." I almost teared up, and I had to rub my eyes. "I'll remember you all in the stars."
I looked to the gate where the ship was supposed to be. I hadn't seen it yet, and I was a bit giddy.
"I'm off." I told myself more then them. "See you again."
"See you again, Nox." Leon nodded as we shook hands. "Now get going!"
"Right!" I cried as I turned and ran.
I pushed the door open, and was surprised to see two Gummi Ships. One was red and yellow, whilst the other was purple and blue with silver wings and blue thrusters.
"Sir Oswald, you really haven't seen the King?" I overheard Goofy talking to Oswald.
"Sorry, not since I left." Oswald said, before smirking. "Seriously, he's still doing stuff like this? I thought he'd know better now that he's a proper king and all."
"So then, what are you doing, Sir Oswald?" Donald asked.
"This mission's personal. My own." Oswald said with a hand on his chest. "You know I can take care of myself, so you two look after this new Keyblade wielder, 'kay?"
"You can count on us, Sir Oswald!" Donald and Goofy saluted.
"What was that about?" I asked as I walked over.
"Aw, nothing. They're just too noble for their own good." Oswald snickered, before jabbing his thumb at the purple ship. "Anyway, what do you think of my ship? Pretty impressive, right?"
"Yeah! It's a real Gummi Ship!" I marvelled.
"And you're part of the crew now." Oswald said as the hatch opened. "Ready to get going?"
"...I am. Let's go!" I cheered.
And that was how our adventure began.
Info
Nox: The main protagonist of Kingdom Hearts: Vision Mix. He wields the mysterious Guardiarm which can use the power of both Light and Darkness through Shards. After having a strange dream, he journeys with Clara and Oswald to find the Door to the Light.
Clara: An always optimistic and smiling young woman looking for the Door to the Light. The Familiar she uses can attack with her input, but she mostly uses it to store her healing and support Items. She is the Support of the team.
Oswald: The captain of the ship who is an eccentric inventor with a love for heroics and gadgets. He acts tough, but has a big heart. His Wrench is big and heavy, but it does huge damage and his Skills all help everybody in the team. He's both the brawn and the brains.
Heart Shard: An orb that awakened the Guardiarm. It is made from Nox's heart.
Nightstar Shard: An orb obtained from the Nightstar. It does nothing on its own, but can be used in Synthesis...